The Internet has greatly changed over the past several years. Until two decades ago, the main entrance for accessing the web was through a web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Mosaic, Opera and alike. Finding the desired content, however, was a far-from-trivial task: the web browser did not offer any form of guidance or recommendation to the user, serving instead as a mere instrument of access (a graphical user interface to visualize web pages). This fact motivated several web sites, also known as web portals, to try and organize the otherwise scattered content. But the Internet grew faster than portals' capabilities to organize the astounding universe of available content. In that scenario, finding the desired content was a matter of luck.
In order to organize this vast amount of available content, some web sites, known as “search engines”, started to index the available content and offering to the users a way of locating the right web site in which their desired content could be found. Amongst all the search engines, there was one in particular that seemed to provide the best search results: Google, which then has become the main entrance to the web.
Eventually, finding content was just not enough anymore and several social networks—virtual communities where people can share content with friends and give feedback on received recommendations—soon became a great part of people's online lives. Facebook™ became the most popular of them and, for many people, the new “main entrance” to the web.
Nowadays a new kind of social networks has been rising. A well-know web service, namely “instant messaging” (IM), has progressively incorporated many features typically found on social networks. On one hand, users can now share content with friends through instant messengers, but cannot broadcast it to all people on their contact list. Only limited groups of specific people can access user-shared content and comments. Instead of having a public timeline, where anyone can see every information, the timeline concept has evolved into a record of previously-shared data, content, and ideas between the user and his/her closest ones. “Snapchat” and “WhatsApp”, for instance, are two of the most popular players amongst IM-based social networks. The use of instant messaging services as a social network has been widely adopted by teenagers, who want to share content without being bullied by others, including family. Those are some of the reasons why IM is quickly becoming the next “main entrance” to the web.
Nevertheless, the web is changing, and so are the devices used to access it. In the mid-1990, the personal computer was the most popular tool for accessing the web, what recently has changed with the popularization of the technological advances of smartphones, which are currently the preferred devices for most people to remain connected. And yet, a new kind of devices lies on the horizon, the so-called “wearable computers”, such as smart watches, smart glasses, smart wristbands—these are some instances of existing commercial wearable devices with high potential to prevail in the market, according to some experts. However, one important question remains unanswered: How users will interact with content through these devices, which present very small screens or, in some cases, even no screen at all, is unknown.
Patent document US 2014/0173751 A1, titled: “System and Method for Chatting with Machines”, published on Jun. 19, 2014, describes a human-machine chatting system that allows a human to retrieve real time performance information from a machine. The document US 2014/0173751 A1 is related to the proposed invention in the sense that it relies on a chat-based, conversational interface for human communication with a device. However, the matter of the prior art document is strictly designed for allowing the human to retrieve performance-related information concerning the monitored machine, as opposed to the present invention, which is intended as a platform for interacting not only with devices, but also with other human users, as if all of them were “contacts” on a contact list. The solution of the document US 2014/0173751 A1 does not mention the use of natural language to “chat” with machines, and this is one of the main purposes of the present invention. Also, the matter revealed by the present invention relies on the human user to issue commands capable of operating the device remotely—as well as allowing devices to command each other in a contextual fashion.
Patent document US 2014/0173026 A1, titled: “Method and Apparatus for Cross Device Notifications”, published on Jun. 19, 2014 proposes a method and apparatus for cross-device notifications between software applications. The document US 2014/0173026 A1 approaches the problem of managing multiple instances of the same application being executed by multiple devices, all of which belonging to the same use. The present invention, on the other hand, is meant to provide an universal communication framework that unifies human-human, human-device and device-device communications under the representation of “contacts in a contact list”, as well as providing a transparent, conversational interface for contacts to interact.
In the work of Guinard and Trifa, “Towards the Web of Things: Web Mashups for Embedded Devices” (2009), the authors describe a framework for device-device communication, which is suitable for Internet of Things (IoT) contexts and in which each device is represented as a “web resource”—as opposed to being represented as a “contacts in a contact list”. Also, the previous contribution encompasses neither human-human nor human-device communication, nor it suggests a unifying representation for humans and devices (i.e., “contacts in a contact list”)—an aspect that remains the focus of the proposed invention.
Patent document CN 103475707 A, titled: “Universal System for Supporting Internet of Things”, published on Dec. 25, 2013, describes a universal system for interconnecting smart devices in Internet of Things (IoT) scenarios. The document CN 103475707 A is related to the present invention in the sense that it offers a framework for allowing device-device communication. However, this prior art document is limited to device-device communication—while the present invention provides a network through which devices and humans are able to communicate with each other in a conversational fashion.
Patent document U.S. Pat. No. 6,731,307 B1, titled: “User Interface/Entertainment Device that Simulates Personal Interaction and Responds to User's Mental State and/or Personality”, published on May 4, 2004, describes an interaction simulator that, through sensorial data captured from the user, adapts the nature of interaction to the user's current mental state or personality. Such prior art document is related to the present invention in the sense that it provides an anthropomorphized system capable of conversational interaction with a human user. However, the U.S. Pat. No. 6,731,307 B1 does not predict a complete network that connects all devices belonging to the same user in a chatroom-like virtual structure, through which those devices are able to exchange information among themselves, as well as with human actors, in a conversational fashion.
Patent document US 2011/0153750 A1, titled: “Computer to Mobile Two-Way Chat System and Method”, published on Jun. 23, 2011, discloses a user-driven, text-based chat system for two-way communication. The document US 2011/0153750 A1 is related to the present invention in the sense that it approaches communication in a simplified, text-oriented fashion, under the premise that “texting” has become the preferred form of communication. However, the provided system is designed for human-human communication, with devices serving only as interfaces between the (human) user and the system. In the proposed invention, devices and humans alike take the role of “users”, and rely on “texting” for interacting with each other.
Patent document U.S. Pat. No. 7,995,064 B2, titled: “Computer-implemented Chat System Having Dual Channel Communications and Self-defining Product Structures”, published on Apr. 13, 2006, describes a chat system characterized by dual-channel communication. Similarly to the present invention, the document U.S. Pat. No. 7,995,064 B2 allows the user to send text messages to other human users, as well as to enter text commands that will be executed. However, as opposed to the present invention, the document U.S. Pat. No. 7,995,064 B2 differentiates text commands from messages at an input level, by means of an escape character; a message is always sent to another human user, but a command is never sent—being instead executed by the chat system itself. In the present invention, all text inputs are interpreted and sent as messages; a message will be executed as a command if its receiver is a device (not a human “contact”). In that case, the user's command is directed towards the other end of the communication—a device—as opposed to the chat system itself.
One solution proposed for this issue is the use of voice-based interfaces. Specifically, the use of speech-to-text (STT) and text-to-speech (TTS) technologies allow the content to be respectively “typed into” and “read by” a smart device, more specifically a wearable device that usually presents screen too small and ill-suited to data entrance (typing). This convergence to STT and TTS also seems suitable for IM systems, as the main purpose of the service remains unchanged: allowing users to exchange “text” messages with your contacts.
Rather than mere speculation, reinforcing the fact that IM services are becoming the “main entrance” to the web, and the fact that it represents a well-known interface to users these days, in 2014, LG launched a smart home solution called “HomeChat”, featuring an IM-based service that allows users to exchange text messages with smart appliances such as a smart refrigerator or a smart wash machine. It relies on Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques as a means to provide a human-like interaction among users and smart appliances. However, this IM service is not integrated with IM services used to exchange messages with real people.
Another fact that supports this trend of using IM as an user interface for smart appliances is the use of the XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol)—one of the most popular IM protocols available—on the so-called Internet of Things (IoT). In fact, a specific protocol extension (XEP-0325: Internet of Things—Control) was particularly proposed to handle this specific usage.
To the extent of our knowledge, a complete IM-based solution that allows communication between people and devices alike is yet to be proposed—both as a web service and software application. This implies on a thorough understanding on how people use devices to interact with people, and how they use the same device to interact with web services and software applications.
With that in mind, it would be desirable to have a unified interaction language, a method to enable users to interact with devices, smart appliances, web services, software applications and people alike—in a seamless, intuitive fashion.